What's the appeal of a 6 speed transmission?

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: mwmorph
Am I the only person that like 5 speeds more? I just don't like the gate pattern on 6 speeds, reverse next to first bothers me and I have to be extra careful on an unfamiliar car when shifting quickly into 2nd or 1st on a 6 speed.

You shouldn't be shifting quickly into first in many circumstances 😉

Tell me that after driving a ~110hp Saturn SL2 for a little while. at 30mph, 3rd is a great gear for fuel mileage but it has literally no pickup on any kind of hills, same on a NA Miata.

Besides, "Some times you gotta feed a little speed to your ride Detective."

 

[giantpinkbunnyhead]

Originally posted by: mwmorph
Am I the only person that like 5 speeds more? I just don't like the gate pattern on 6 speeds, reverse next to first bothers me and I have to be extra careful on an unfamiliar car when shifting quickly into 2nd or 1st on a 6 speed.

My reverse is to the upper-right of the 5-6 gate. I like it there... no accidental 5-R shift! Though I'm sure a lockout mechanism would prevent that anyway. I hope.

 

[DougK62]

Originally posted by: KentState

Originally posted by: DougK62
Because people think the bigger the number, the better the item is.

(and by saying "people" I really mean "idiots")

Then there are the idiots who don't know what they are talking.

(and by saying "idiots", I really mean "you")

LOL. I'll let you in on a little secret that you apparently don't know - bigger numbers sell more product to the sheeple. Shocking! Most people with even the tiniest bit of car knowledge know that with a manual transmission these days you either get 5 or 6 gears. Everyone will automatically think the 6 is more impressive, just because it's "one more" than the 5. That's life.

 

[overst33r]

Originally posted by: mwmorph

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: mwmorph
Am I the only person that like 5 speeds more? I just don't like the gate pattern on 6 speeds, reverse next to first bothers me and I have to be extra careful on an unfamiliar car when shifting quickly into 2nd or 1st on a 6 speed.

You shouldn't be shifting quickly into first in many circumstances 😉

Tell me that after driving a ~110hp Saturn SL2 for a little while. at 30mph, 3rd is a great gear for fuel mileage but it has literally no pickup on any kind of hills, same on a NA Miata.

Besides, "Some times you gotta feed a little speed to your ride Detective."

Shifting into first gear at 30mph for street driving is excessive and unnecessary. Especially in the cars you mentioned. One of those cars tops out at about 35mph in first gear, which would put you at about 5000rpm at 30mph... A little excessive for first gear, no? Not to mention probably slower than 2nd gear in most scenarios.

As for the OP. 6 gears are generally preferred for cars with a small power band. 5 gears for accelerating and one for hwy cruising. Although there are cars with 6 speeds and don't use 6th as an overdrive gear (see NC above).

6 gears is more advantageous IMO for usually any car. It allows better multiplication of torque for the first 5 gears and have one gear for cruising at 80mph @ 2000-2500rpm depending on the engine type. I know I'd prefer my car did 2500rpm at 80mph instead of ~4200rpm.

 

[slag]

Originally posted by: amdhunter

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
look at it this way: would you rather have bicycle with 3 gears or bicycle with 18 gears?

more gears = more effective "power management"

of course, at some point it becomes "too many gears"

lol, I wouldn't know whether which would be preferable? I would want 3 since it's less hassle...lol

So I guess having more gears lets you choose better "adjustments" for the situation at hand?

For example, I can fine tune better a 6sp transmission for performance/ratio than I could a 5sp (which could be too high/low for whatever situation I am in?)

I drove a 3 on the tree in college for a short while.. Was perfect in the truck i was driving... while i stayed in town. On the road, about 55 mph was as fast as you wanted to go with the low geared rear end and the fact it only had 3 gears and was a work truck.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: amdhunter

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
look at it this way: would you rather have bicycle with 3 gears or bicycle with 18 gears?

more gears = more effective "power management"

of course, at some point it becomes "too many gears"

lol, I wouldn't know whether which would be preferable? I would want 3 since it's less hassle...lol

So I guess having more gears lets you choose better "adjustments" for the situation at hand?

For example, I can fine tune better a 6sp transmission for performance/ratio than I could a 5sp (which could be too high/low for whatever situation I am in?)

Most engines make their highest power levels within a certain range ("band") of RPM. Some engines have wider band of high power than others. A wide band means you need fewer gears to keep the engine in that band as you change speed. A narrow power band means you need more gears. The turbocharged Evo has a wider band than some cars, so it gets a 5-speed, and does just fine with it. Other cars probably benefit from six gears. And there are probably cars out there that don't really benefit much from six, but have them anyway to appeal to people who think six is always better than five.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: amdhunter
[n00b]

I was at the Mitsubishi dealer the other day looking at the new Evo (which I think looks hella cheap and tacky in person) and a friend of mines looks at the gearbox and says how it was "ghey because it had a 5sp transmission."

Now, from time to time, people ask me about my car, and many times they assume it's 5sp, and I'll correct them and tell them it's 6sp. Usually, they'll respond positively, and ask me if I am sure (lol) or that it's nice.

What is the appeal to having 6 gears vs 5? Wouldn't having less gears mean that the transmission has to pull harder [hence be faster?]

What is it that I am not getting?

[/n00b]

It depends on the engine, transmission gear ratios, inteded application (where you drive most), how much power your car makes, etc.

Actually, the Evo is (or was) a tad quicker 0-60 (maybe it was the 1/4 mile) than the STI (which has a 6spd gearbox) because in the STI you had one more shift in there to perform.

 

[zerocool84]

I just wish my car had an extra gear just for the gas savings. My engine is small but at 80mph it's @ 3k. Only reason I would want to have that extra gear

 

[redgtxdi]

6 gears are too many (and in a turbo-powered EVO, it's actually a little saddening because by the time you're really enjoying the "pull", you're out of gear) and 3 is too few.

I've owned both and 4 is great for more powerful motors.........5 for lesser.


Evo's move to 5 was smart!!

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: alimoalem
um i think you guys took a non-technical question and made it way to technical. OP asked why people say "nice" or respond positively when he says he has a 6sp. i think DougK62 addressed the question properly by saying "Because people think the bigger the number, the better the item is," which i'll agree with.

Plus, 6sp is newer than 5sp. newer = better to the average person.

Actually, I am enjoying this discussion a lot. I've been quiet mostly because I don't know how to get into it...lol. From what I gathered from this thread, I guess a 6 speed allows for more tweaking while you drive, and not necessarily better than a really good 5 speed transmission.

I kind of like the option of having a 6th gear, since I usually get ~55 mpg crusing on the highway with a very light foot on the pedal when I am crusing in it (that is if the display on my dash is accurate...lol)

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: redgtxdi
6 gears are too many (and in a turbo-powered EVO, it's actually a little saddening because by the time you're really enjoying the "pull", you're out of gear) and 3 is too few.

I've owned both and 4 is great for more powerful motors.........5 for lesser.


Evo's move to 5 was smart!!

The MR version of the Evo is supposed to have a 6 gear tranny. 🙂

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: redgtxdi
6 gears are too many (and in a turbo-powered EVO, it's actually a little saddening because by the time you're really enjoying the "pull", you're out of gear) and 3 is too few.

I've owned both and 4 is great for more powerful motors.........5 for lesser.


Evo's move to 5 was smart!!

a 6-speed gearbox does allow the car to accelerate faster.

for example, in the old Evo VIII, the RS came with 5-speed standard and the MR has a 6-speed.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: sniperruff

Originally posted by: redgtxdi
6 gears are too many (and in a turbo-powered EVO, it's actually a little saddening because by the time you're really enjoying the "pull", you're out of gear) and 3 is too few.

I've owned both and 4 is great for more powerful motors.........5 for lesser.


Evo's move to 5 was smart!!

a 6-speed gearbox does allow the car to accelerate faster.

for example, in the old Evo VIII, the RS came with 5-speed standard and the MR has a 6-speed.

The RS came with the 5spd because the RS was the stripped down version with no extras or anything and it was the lightest. From what I have ever read and I just double checked again, the RS was faster in straight line than the MR but the MR got it in the twisties because of the suspension. Remember you have to shift more with that 6spd to get to a certain speed and shifting takes up time.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Actually, most cars get their best fuel efficiency between 35 and 45 mph in top gear. RPM is the largest contributor to fuel consumption. You are better off with a large throttle opening and low RPM than you are with high RPM and a smaller throttle opening. At a constant 40 mph I get almost 40 mpg out of my S70, but that drops as speed increases to around 27 mpg on the freeway.

2,000 RPM in 6th at 80mph would be fine for a 4-cylinder car as long as the engine was not lugging. And it would yield better economy than 3,000 RPM at the same speed.

ZV

Zenmervolt, as much as I respect your car knowledge I'm going to have to disagree. Somehow I think you're putting this out there as bait.

If I were to lug around at 35-45 mph in top gear my car would stall as would most.

bah, who am I kidding, you're kidding all of us and I bit it.

You're joking, right?

My Toyota Celica (~100hp) could cruise as low as 30MPH in 5th without lugging the engine, as long as I didn't have to climb any hills.
The BMW, ~28 IIRC.
The van, also 30MPH.
The Golf, 35 or so.
The MR2, 30 with NO hills, 35 with very mild inclines. But that's got a fairly peaky engine.
The Subaru, 33. Good torque, but heavy car.

The DL650, 35, but acceleration was absolute crap and no hills were allowed.

Mind you, you'd want to drop a gear if you needed to get somewhere in a hurry, but as long as you weren't climbing any steep hills, ALL of those manual transmission vehicles, most without a bunch of extra power or low-end torque, did fine at low speeds in top gear.

Originally posted by: Midnight Rambler

Actually, most cars get their best fuel efficiency between 35 and 45 mph in top gear

Optimum fuel economy is most often realized in the 55-60mph range. Come on up to Milford, I can show you the numbers ... 😀

In my experience with my vehicles, 45-50 seems to be about the max. The bike gets a whopping 70MPG at 45.